The present invention relates to butchering or meat processing hangers and, in particular, to a portable, folding gambrel support.
A problem inherent with butchering or dressing domestic or wild meat bearing animals is that of supporting the animal in a fashion which facilitates the removal of the skin and the sectioning the prepared carcass. Varieties of so called "meat hooks" have been developed for use in commercial processing facilities, whereby separate legs of the animal may be secured from separate hooks, which hooks in turn are suspended from an overlying support.
When field dressing wild animals, such as deer, antelope, elk, bear and other large game animals, a support structure is typically not available which accommodates separate leg hooks. Instead, a tree limb is typically used and from which a mechanical hoist or rope is suspended. The rope is attached to a bar which is inserted between the gambrels of the animal to spread apart the legs and permit processing. Various spreader bars are commercially available, but all of which essentially provide a permanent triangular wire or metal frame. The widest portions of these frames provide bent uprights which project to restrain the gambrels of a supported animal and limit the maximum spreading of the legs. The weight of the animal otherwise is directed outward via the angulating rails of the triangular support.
A shortcoming of spreader bar assemblies is that the bars do not lend themselves to ready storage. That is, the assemblies are constructed at fixed lengths. Depending upon the tempering and thickness of the materials, such assemblies also tend to bend and deform when subjected to extraneous pressures. Such pressures can occur during skinning, when one or more sportsmen pull or push to remove the hide from the animal.